Most of the creative nonfiction and poetry I write tends to end up feeling fairly serious, albeit with a tiny twist of dry humor threaded throughout, rising along the surface of the piece every so often. But sometimes it’s good to abandon oneself to a hearty belly laugh. Here’s a poem I wrote about the importance of laughter which was published in The Black Boot, Issue 8. And have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
Laughing Babies
*
In seventh grade I was sent
to the principal’s office six times for laughing,
my giggles chronic hiccups
that rode the curb like a skateboard
until I wanted to bail from fear of the crash.
I held on, never jumped. My girlfriends
and I were making fun for ourselves.
*
Have you heard the commercial
with the laughing baby?
Not a smiling infant, slippery pink gums
peeking from behind the O
of the open baby mouth,
not tentative giggles
searching out questions for the world.
But a big baby guffaw, a Mississippi of sound
catching me in the solar plexus
where my own laugh begins.
*
We’re hardwired for this hidden language,
more powerful than books
or paintings.
We laugh together
and at nothing at all.
###
In the spirit of laughter, here’s a website devoted to laughing babies:
http://www.break.com/topics/laughing-babies
and another:
http://www.laughingbabies.org/
And here’s one of the laughing baby videos from Youtube:
What a great poem, Luanne, I love the O of the laughing baby’s mouth. the hard-wired hidden language, the laughing at nothing at all. Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!
Happy Thanksgiving, Wilma! I love laughing. Probably why I write a lot of hahas where they look kind of ridiculous haha.
love a Mississippi of sound — so evocative–but I would expect nothing less from another Luanne – LouAnn
LouAnn, I love that we share a name! I used to love that M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I we used to recite to learn how to spell the state when we were kids! What a great word.
You already know that I love this whole thing: the intro and especially the poem. Thanks for lifting my spirits so early in the morning. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, and remember to share a laugh with someone you love tomorrow. It’s good for the soul.
Yes, so good for the soul, Lisa, and mental health too :). I’m glad you enjoyed it!
How infectious that precocious laugh!
I know! It’s so wonderful! Thanks for stopping by and enjoying!
Memories of laughing uncontrollably with my girlfriends over nothing at all! This post brought back a lot! I got sent out in the hall in the 4th grade for making fun of a story with another student that the teacher was reading aloud to us….. just could NOT control myself. For the rest of that school year I lived in dread that the teacher would call my mother about the incident…. she never did and I didn’t tell my mom about it until I was well into my 40’s! (Maybe that teacher remembered laughing uncontrollably as well?) Thanks for sharing this.
I love that story! So glad the teacher didn’t bust you! My teachers and the librarian especially really put up with a lot, but they would have to send me down the hall when I wouldn’t stop at all and our principal would say “don’t irritate your teacher any more” and send me back to class ;).
“a Mississippi of sound” is beautiful. I love this.